Patching Up
by ELIE
Summary: How many minutes does it take for Sasuke and Naruto to make up? Come on, I know you're curious. [SasuNaru]


A/N: Believe it or not, I got this idea while I was falling in line for my enrolment. I had to write the title down on my hand so as to not forget it. The girl in front of me must think I'm some kind of lunatic now, to be scribbling nonsense on my left hand. Oh well.

**PATCHING UP**

He expected this to happen.

The moment Uchiha Sasuke saw the horrified look on his lover's face as he threw the rest of his instant ramen down the drain (more like _pushed_ it down, those uncooked noodles aren't always willing to cooperate) and then washing everything up with the cold tap water, he somewhat knew what was going to happen next. He didn't see what was so wrong with it. After all, since he moved in Uzumaki Naruto's house—squeezed inside one room—all he ever ate was ramen. He practically knew every kind and can differentiate them with his eyes closed. And Naruto seemed like he was _breathing _the damn thing. Will he ever get enough?

If you were in Sasuke's place, you'd probably do the same thing. Unless you're willing to go insane due to the instant noodles. You understand what the Uchiha has to go through, right? And if given the chance, he'd rather take Itachi on, one-on-one. Or even spend a day—hell, even an hour—with Orochimaru than eat those wretched noodles again.

Too bad Naruto didn't feel the same way.

It was unsurprising that after the way Naruto glared at Sasuke after his "evil" deed, the blonde didn't talk to him the whole morning. He would shrug and walk away whenever Sasuke would try to explain himself and would make undecipherable noises when Sasuke—God forbid—would try to apologize. Doesn't the Kyuubi boy get it? Sasuke was going to _apologize_. Something he'd never done before. And here was Naruto, giving him the cold shoulder all because of, what? Instant ramen?

Seriously. If Sasuke didn't love the boy so much, he would've punched him senseless.

Unfortunately for the Uchiha, all thoughts of punching Naruto senseless had to be put off until later that day, for the Godaime had plans for her "beloved" Jounins. Naruto and Sasuke included, of course. So the two found themselves in a long line of Jounins with a bunch of papers in their hands.

"We need to update your personal information and such." Tsunade had announced earlier. "It will be used to determine if you are fit enough to handle missions assigned to you. I'd like each and every one of you to fill out these forms,"

She gestured to the inch-thick pile of papers arranged neatly on a long table.

"Properly. And when I say properly, I expect properly." The Sannin's gaze (or was it glare?) was without a doubt directed to Naruto, who wasn't ready to give up his prankster reputation yet. "Those who are done can then wait in line outside my office. I'll then scan your forms and then after doing so, you may leave."

That sounded easy enough.

Too bad it wasn't easy doing the real thing.

"Dammit," Sasuke cursed when finally confronted with said forms. They had to be twenty, at the very least. Twenty fucking forms! His life wasn't interesting enough to fill out each and every blank on those twenty pieces of paper. And his pen was running out of ink. Double damn.

"Need a new pen, Sasuke-kun?" a voice asked. Sasuke looked up and saw his former teammate, Haruno Sakura, with a pen in hand and a smile on her face.

"Yeah," the boy replied, snatching the pen from her hands. Somewhere along the way of being Tsunade's student and being a full-time medic now, the girl had gotten over her crush, rather, obsession with the Uchiha. Instead, she had found herself more interested in conversing with old people. (A/N: I tried to think of something not offensive on Sakura's part. I hope this one isn't. Offensive, I mean.)

Then, all of the sudden, the pink-haired girl (she'll always be a girl to me. Just like Naruto is forever the "blonde boy/Kyuubi boy" and Sasuke is the "dark-haired boy/Uchiha") leaned and whispered in Sasuke's ear, "Actually, it's from Naruto. Heard you had a fight. As usual, he's too proud to apologize first. Give him a break, will you?"

Sasuke sighed. He didn't know whether he should be touched by the action. I mean, Naruto? Giving away pens? Yeah. I can't believe it too. And I'm the authoress here. He glanced at the blonde boy, who was sitting on the other end of the table, scribbling madly on the piece of paper in front of him.

This caused a small smile to grace the Uchiha's lips.

Just when Sasuke was about to cheer due to the neatly filled-out forms—all twenty-two of them—he scowled at the sight that greeted him next. In front of the Hokage's door was a very, very, very long line of Jounins. A very annoying, very, very, very long line, at that. He tried to find the end of the line, which was about seven freaking feet away from the door (Who knew Konoha had so much Jounins?), he found the familiar orange hue at the very end.

About the orange thing, the Godaime had actually scolded Naruto for wearing such an obscene color. Naruto defended his side, of course. He has been wearing the same color of orange even before he became a Genin. Tsunade finally relented and allowed him to wear his beloved orange jacket. Although the Hokage strictly told him to take off the bright thing during missions and such. But Naruto was never the obedient type.

Anyway, back to Sasuke and the very, very, very long line of Jounins, the dark-haired boy (See? They're at least nineteen by now. I can't get the "boy" "girl" out of my system.) quickly trotted off to the end of the line. This was a chance given by the gods! This is fate! This is destiny! This is—

"Hey, I got here first!" a random Jounin told him.

Sasuke wasted no time and activated his sharingan. The sudden change in eye color reminded the random Jounin who this guy was. And nobody in their right state of mind would mess with Sasuke with a bunch of twenty-or-so papers in their hands, not to mention, unarmed. He quickly gave way to the Uchiha.

At first, Sasuke thought that they'd be silent for the remainder of the time they'll be standing there. The line was moving slowly and some people were actually bringing out sleeping bags (where they got it, I don't know) and taking naps, right then and there. Some were chatting excitedly, still others betting on how long this was going to take. And the remainder chose to amuse themselves by staring at random things. (A/N: Do _not_ try this at home. This can cause you to lose brain cells. Seriously.) Sasuke was part of the last group. Yeah, the let's-stare-at-random-things-to-lose-brain-cells group. And so was Naruto.

Thankfully, for Sasuke, Naruto chose a certain moment when the Uchiha was staring at a particularly interesting rock when he turned around to face the said Uchiha, with a scowl on his face.

"A—" Sasuke began. He was going to apologize. He couldn't stand it anymore. The silence was driving him crazy. He knew it was driving Naruto crazy too. That _dobe_ was always too noisy for his own good.

"I forgive you," Naruto said grudgingly.

"What? I didn't say anything!" Sasuke protested.

"You were going to say sorry weren't you? So I beat you to it." Naruto shrugged.

"You could've at least waited until I said it. I was swallowing my _pride_ here."

"It looks like you were choking on it,"

"Hey! I was going to apologize! To you! Of all people, I'm going to apologize to you! I chose not to apologize to this girl because I failed to rescue her father from the man-eating caterpillars; I chose not to apologize to Kakashi-sensei for misplacing—intentionally—his Icha Icha Paradise; I chose not to apologize to Shino for accidentally killing one of his bugs; I chose not to apologize to some random girl when my kunai hit her laundry line and sent her wet clothes down the dusty road; I chose not to—anyway, I am apologizing to _you_, for sending your oh-so-important instant ramen down the drain. Of all the people I wronged, I chose to apologize to you, for obviously breaking your heart at the sight of those uncooked noodles in cold water down the drain."

Sasuke took a deep breath.

Naruto just blinked at him. _What?_ He said this freakishly long speech, went over the maximum amount of words he said per sentence and all he got was a blink from him?

"Well?" the Uchiha demanded.

"It was _you _who misplaced Kakashi-sensei's Icha Icha Paradise? We were forced to look for it for three days and it was all your fault?"

"I had to. Damn thing wasn't meant to be read in public. Argh! Anyway, that is besides the point. Hell, it's not even on the same planet as the point. I apologized to you. What do you have to say about it?"

Naruto's scowl deepened. "I forgive you,"

After a minute, both boys (See? See? I don't know why. My brain just keeps telling me to type "boys." Hmm.. it does sound ugly if I use "men") smiled. And after that long, long, long line of Jounins, Naruto and Sasuke went home as if nothing had happened. Of course, if you looked down the drain, you wouldn't say so.

"You can't resist me, huh?" Sasuke smirked.

"You obviously can't resist me." Naruto smirked back.

"I can so resist you!"

"Oh yeah! What if I said I just bought a hundred packs of instant ramen?"

"I'd—I'd throw you out of the house!"

"It's my house, _teme_!"

"It's mine too, _dobe_!"

Needless to say, somewhere along the way home, the two managed to patch things up before they reached home. And unsurprisingly, for dinner, they had ramen. It seems that Naruto wasn't joking when he said he bought a hundred packs.

_Owari_

**SPIN-OFF _sort of_**

Sakura cheered as she thrust her waiting hand in Ino's face. The blonde girl (What did I tell ya?) groaned before reluctantly reaching for her pocket and pulling a few yen out. Beside Ino, Kakashi also scowled. He couldn't believe he lost such a bet. Beside Kakashi was Tsunade, in all her Hokage-ness, with a scowl also on her face. It didn't end with Tsunade though. Beside the Godaime was Jiraiya, Kiba, Neji, Tenten and Hinata.

"I told you they'd be able to make up before the sun sets!" Sakura cheered once more. The rest groaned. While the pink-haired girl (right. I don't have to repeat myself) was busy collecting the day's earnings, the group heard two voices, clearly bickering.

"I told you to buy the one with the cow logo!"

"Who cares? Milk is milk!"

"I care! I drink this stuff, ya know!"

"And what? I don't? They all taste the same, _dobe_!"

"They don't, _teme_!"

"They do! Who cares about cow logos! Just drink the damn thing!"

"I will not drink this! I want the one with the cow logo!"

Smirk.

"I bet five minutes, tops" Jiraiya nodded confidently.

"I bet three minutes!" someone who sounded like Kakashi yelled.

"T-three minutes and five seconds," Hinata said.

"Four!" Tenten yelled.

"Two minutes and twenty-two seconds!" Ino grinned.

"Three minutes and forty seconds!" Tsunade said, her statement followed by maniacal laughter.

"No, no! Two minutes, flat!" Kiba said. His statement was ended with Akamaru's trademark bark.

It wasn't long before Neji brought out his watch.


End file.
